UKRPL
Resiliency
Gardens
About us
Resiliency Gardens is a consortium of international charitable organizations and volunteers from a variety of different nationalities and backgrounds, helping Polish and Ukrainian schools, NGOs, and other grassroots organizations boost the supply of locally grown food.
Our goal
To encourage and facilitate urban gardening, helping to reduce the effects of CO2 emissions, while at the same time helping children, youth and adults experience the joy of eating food they have grown themselves.
Our vision
To give people the skills of crop growing, so that they can make a positive contribution to the health of the planet and benefit their own wellbeing.
Even a small garden is a way to change the worldwith your own hands.
Why it matters
The industrial food industry is harmful and abusive to our planet. Collectively, our food choices are contributing to this problem. Each of us can do a little something to help by growing and eating locally produced food. It’s better for our health, our planet’s health, and our general well-being.
Harmony replaces harm. Calm reduces stress.
Working in cooperation with nature is calming. Through interaction with living plants, we can all learn to cooperate and live in harmony with nature.
Our Solution
Plant a garden
Anyone can grow vegetables, and everyone enjoys watching a seed they planted sprout and grow. Whether on a windowsill, a balcony or in a garden bed, we can all make a difference. Look at our stories, use our guidebook and join us on our journey to a better planet.
Reach out and share your excess produce
Get to know your neighbors and become aware of those around you who might benefit from a gift of fresh produce and your kindness. Use your garden to help bring friends, family, and neighbors together around a common purpose.
Start a school or community garden
Congratulations to the following schools who have been awarded grants from our partner Seed Programs International, to establish their school gardens, and a special thanks to our partner, Trips Beyond the Classroom, for pushing the learning up during school garden planning sessions.With funding from Seed Programs International, in-kind grants are available to purchase materials, seeds, soil, garden tools and other equipment. Funding is available on a first-come, first served basis so ask your school or community organization to apply now:
Poland
  • Milanówek: Społeczna Szkoła Podstawowa MTE - 328 students
  • Nadma: English Language School - 50 students
  • Poznań: Ośrodek Szkolono-Wychowawczy dla Dzieci i Młodzieży Niepełnosprawni -  10 students
  • Poznań: Szkoła Podstawowa Specjalna Nr 112: 90 students
  • Warsaw: Mały Domek-Miejsce na Rzecz Wszechstronnego Rozwoju Dzieci s.c.: 20 students
  • Warsaw: Private Montessori High School: 80 students
Ukraine
  • Kamyanets-Podilskyi: 200 students, teachers, parents
  • Kyiv: 60 students, teachers, parents
  • Volochysk: 60 IDPs, 40 children with disabilities
  • Zorivka: 40 students, teachers, parents
Where to start
If you’ve no land, it doesn’t mean you can’t garden
A garden has four basic needs:
1
Soil. Great soil is essential to growing vegetables, fruits, and other plant life.
2
Sun. Most vegetables need at least 6 hours of unobstructed sun or artificial light per day, although some crops, such as broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and other greens, can tolerate less.
3
Water. Plants need water to gather nutrients from the soil.
4
Seeds. Source and buy quality seeds locally that are suitable for our climate and your type of garden.
What you need
There are many ways to garden: in-ground garden beds, raised rows, raised garden beds, straw bales, and container gardens
1
People who have access to their own vegetable garden consume 40% more fresh vegetables and herbs and, consequently, eat less junk food.
2
Vegetables and herbs lose 30-50% of their useful properties within 5-10 days. Local vegetable gardens allow you to eat vegetables and herbs immediately after harvesting.
3
Working on a garden has a positive effecton personal well-being and gardening with others enhances social connections.
Our Stories
While in quarantine, many have discovered new activities. Some began to learn a foreign language, others practiced yoga or the piano and some even discovered cooking.
But, some began to grow fruits and vegetables in their apartment using ordinary containers. See our stories.
Indoor gardening
Container gardening
Gardening helps a child’s development
Sensory development
A garden is a place of wonder for a child. Children are absorbed by the textures, shapes, colors and scents of living plants and thrilled when they can enjoy their taste.
Gardening helps kids develop hand-eye coordination and build physical strength and important motor skills, such as cutting, planting, and writing.
Intellectual skills
Gardening involves planning, a skill that everyone needs. Kids should be included in this process. Support them in learning how to prepare the soil, plant, water, and weed. They can report on what they have done already and what they think they should do next. In time, they will be able to identify the differences and characteristics of roots, stems, flowers, leaves, seeds and fruits.
Gardening is a fun way to help kids learn something useful!
Social skills
Kids learn to cooperate by working together to nurture and care for their plants. They can paint flowerpots together and share their knowledge of different plants. Through planting trees or plants at school, they can meet new friends, gain status and expand their knowledge.

Learning Resources & Activities

At Resiliency Gardens, we’re always on the lookout for helpful print and video resources for children and adults to make gardening fun and educational. Take a look at these topics and click to learn more and download a free printable

Designing and Placing the Garden

Download
Sourcelink

Starting a School Garden Program

Download
Sourcelink

Vermi-composting for Plant & Planet Health

Download
Youtube

Sustainable Gardening Ideasfrom Around the Globe

Download
Sourcelink

Designing and Placing the Garden

Download
Sourcelink

Designing and Placing the Garden

Download
Sourcelink
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Take action
Get involved. Gardening raises awareness of our environmental issues and our individual and collective responses to climate change and food security
Volunteer
Join our initiative supporting urban and school gardeners.
Make an in-kind or financial contribution.
Contribute
Participate
Prepare a project and get financial support for your school, university or community organization to establish an edible garden.
Get Involved
Partner
Join our consortium to help combat climate change and improve food security.
Become a partner
Our partners
A heartfelt thanks to our partners for their dedication and contributions to the Resiliency Garden’s School and Community Gardens program
seed programs international logotype
Seed Programs International provides good quality seed, expertise, and training materials to humanitarian organizations working around the world to alleviate hunger and poverty. SPI’s in-kind grants are enabling schools, universities, foster homes and community organizations to establish edible gardens for learning and sharing.
asana logotype
Asana is a work management platform that provides web and mobile tools to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. Asana's in-kind donation of software is a key component of Resiliency Gardens' work with Ukrainian and Polish youth to help them generate start-up "Green" enterprises related to food security and climate change mitigation.
kids gardering logotype
KidsGardening.org creates opportunities for kids to play, learn, and grow through gardening, engaging their natural curiosity and wonder. KG’s in-kind donation of Learning Tools for educators, parents and child caregivers are now available in Polish and Ukrainian.
trips beyond the classroom logotype
Trips Beyond the Classroom offers Innovative Education that creates lifetime and generational impact by raising global awareness among youth to inspire future leaders. Safe challenges through travel, homestays, community service and virtual collaboration provide real-world experience, motivating students and teachers to go beyond the classroom! A special Beyond the Garden program has been designed to support educational institutions in creating young environmental stewards through gardening.
Our donors
We’re especially thankful for the encouragement and generosity of time and treasure from our individual and organizational donors who have been supporting Resiliency Gardens in its mission to create a more sustainable and resilient food distribution system in Poland and Ukraine
Ellen Crawford, Los Angeles, CA
Linda Thomas, Heyworth, IL
Linda Stawick, Bloomington, IL
Hal and Andrea Thomas, Fort Wayne, IN
Mark Matheson, Rio Rancho, NM
Pete Perez, Ashville, NC
June Lavelle and Wojciech Orzechowski
Parcela-Obory, PL
St Matthews Episcopal Church, Bloomington, IL
June Lavelle
Project founder
Farmer's daughter from central Illinois, professional opera singer in St. Louis, expert in start-up enterprises and business incubation
Junes's Lavelle picture
About UsOur SolutionWhere To Start
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